New Mandala

Sydney’s Taronga Park Zoo is celebrating the birth on 3 July 2009 of a male calf to Thai elephant Thong Dee:
Australia has welcomed the first elephant ever born in the country with the arrival of a 100-kilogram (220.4-pound) male calf at a Sydney zoo, according to keepers. The calf, yet to be named, was born [...]

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Some good sense from the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of China:
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China is appalled to learn that our colleagues, the entire board of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand, have been accused of committing lese majeste, a crime which could carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Police will investigate the [...]

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New Mandala readers who prefer their coverage in the Thai language will appreciate this translation of a recent post.  That post highlights the ongoing plight of Daranee “Da Torpedo” Charnchoengsilpakul who is on trial for lese majeste.  Does anyone know what has happened since the court was closed last week?  How is she faring?

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The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) is deeply embroiled in the ongoing circus of lese majeste accusations.  Jonathan Head, the BBC correspondent in Bangkok and FCCT First Vice President, has long been singled out for attention.  But now we hear that the entire FCCT board has been accused of insulting the Thai monarchy.  The [...]

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Daranee “Da Torpedo” Charnchoengsilpakul (ดารณี ชาญเชิงศิลปกุล) is currently on trial for lese majeste.  Yesterday the courtroom was closed to the public by a judge who reportedly “guarantee[s] the defendant will get a fair trial”.  I won’t be holding my breath.  In response, Daranee made the simple point that “[t]he speech I am charged with was [...]

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Samantha Orobator, a 20-year-old British woman, is facing trial for alleged possession of 680 grams (1.5 pounds) of heroin in Laos.  Detained since August 2008 in Phonthong Prison outside Vientiane, she is five months pregnant.  The Lao Penal Code mandates a death sentence by firing squad for some drug-related charges, including possession of more than [...]

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Commenting on Thai politics and political reform in Thailand these days is no fun, because the situation is unusually complicated, and the ideological climate has become almost suffocating. Anyway, I will make six observations that I think are pertinent to the current discussion of political reform, three each concerning structural and ideological issues.
First, if democracy [...]

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Now I’m trying to turn to Dharma, particularly the 3 characteristics of all things, Anicca (impermanence), Dukkha (suffering), and Anatta (illusion of self). I’ve been trying to seek freedom like a fish stuck in a net; the more you struggle, the tighter it gets. Looking around, I see other convicts still smile, laugh and make [...]

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Thailand has been big news in recent weeks.  With all the attention on Abhisit, Thaksin, Sondhi and all the rest it is all too easy to forget that Suwicha Thakor (สุวิชา ท่าค้อ) remains locked up for lese majeste.  Political Prisoners in Thailand continues to update its file on his tragic case.  He was, you may [...]

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In a long comment posted today Portman makes a thought-provoking point:
One of the first acts of new Thaksin government might be to block New Mandala and arrest those in Thailand who have posted articles deemed disrespectful of the monarchy and declare those outside the country persona non grata.
I would be interested to hear New Mandala [...]

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